[INDOLOGY] ṣ

[Luis Gonzalez-Reimann]

Dear Madhav and Matthew,


For what it's worth, texts that describe the /cakras/ (tantras & /haṭha 
yoga/) routinely add/kṣa/ after the /ha/. They are placed in the two 
petals of the /āj̇ñā cakra/. Padoux discusses the addition of/kṣa/ on p. 
156 of his book /Vāc/:


"...finally the compound phoneme/kṣa/, the addition of which is 
sometimes justified on theoretical grounds because it logically fits in 
a given metaphysical system; but the real reason of its being placed 
there is difficult to ascertain, except perhaps as a means to have fifty 
phonemes rather than forty-nine. Naturally, since each phoneme is a form 
of energy, it is correlated with a deity. There are several texts giving 
differing lists of these fifty divinized energies."


One could speculate that is was added in order to fill up all the petals 
in the /cakras/, but that would imply that the number of petals in seven 
/cakras/ was fixed before the addition of /kṣa/.


Padoux, André. 1992. /Vāc://The Concept of the Word in Selected Hindu 
Tantras/. Translated by J. Gontier. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications. 
Originally published by SUNY.


The book is on SCRIBD:


https://www.scribd.com/doc/61589773/Vac-the-Concept-of-the-Word-in-Selected-Hindu-Tantras-a-padoux-SUNY-1990


Regards,


Luis

_____


On 10/31/2019 10:52 AM, Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY wrote:
> Dear Madhav,
>
> No doubt text editorial issues are part of what is at issue, as well 
> as the mix of Sanskrit and Prakrit elements informing BHS. For what 
> it's worth, I note that when the alphabet is recited as a purificatory 
> mantra in tantric contexts in Newar and Tibetan Buddhism, all the 
> vowels and semivowels are included, and kSa is added at the end 
> following Ha. My hunch is that this perhaps originated due to the 
> distinct graphic form in some scripts and so departs from the 
> phonological principle of alphabetic order, but that's really only a 
> guess.
>
> best,
> Matthew
>
> Matthew Kapstein
> Directeur d'études,
> Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes
>
> Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies,
> The University of Chicago
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of 
> Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Sent:* Thursday, October 31, 2019 12:24 PM
> *To:* Indology <indology at list.indology.info>; Bharatiya Vidvat 
> parishad <bvparishat at googlegroups.com>
> *Subject:* [INDOLOGY] The alphabet found in the Lalitavistara
> Dear Colleagues,
>
>      As I have been reading the Lipiśālāsandarśana-Parivarta of the 
> Lalitavistara [p. 89, P. L. Vaidya edition], some interesting features 
> of the alphabet popped up for me.  The Alphabet omits /r̥/ and /l̥/, 
> but includes /ai, au/, and /aḥ/. Among the consonants, it adds /kṣ /at 
> the end after /h/. The version of this passage as given in the 
> Bauddhāgamārthasaṅgraha [ed by P. L. Vaidya] also omits /l/, while it 
> is included in the version of Lalitavistara edited by Vaidya himself.  
> I wonder if there are textual variants about this.  I don't know what 
> this alphabet represents. The omission of /r̥ /and /l̥ /goes along the 
> phonologies of Prakrits, but the inclusion of /ai, au/, and /aḥ/ goes 
> in the direction of Sanskrit.  The addition of /kṣ /and the possible 
> omission of /l /point to something else that I cannot figure out.  Any 
> suggestions and references are welcome.
>
> Madhav M. Deshpande
> Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
> University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
> Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
>
> [Residence: Campbell, California, USA]
>
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